Please note that U.S. citizens are encouraged to obtain the latest travel details and information from the Spanish Embassy/Consulate, which can be reached online at https://www.spainemb.org/. At the time of writing, USA citizens can enter Spain Visa-free for tourism purposes. It’s also worth noting that Spanish dinner times are usually much later than American dinner, with some restaurants only opening at 8pm!

This tour consists of 15 days of unforgettable birding—with a chance to see the enigmatic Iberian Lynx—in Spain, one of the premier birding destinations in Europe. On this tour, we should have plenty of time to see and photograph a range of special bird species that call Spain home, while also visiting well-known birding destinations such as Doñana, Monfragüe, and Odesa National Parks, the Mediterranean Sea, and the western and central parts of the Pyrenees Mountains. This incredible venture takes us to a wide variety of ecosystems (wetlands, woodlands, steppes, broadleaved and conifer forests) maximizing opportunities to build a decent European list during the trip. The May timing of the trip maximizes the likelihood that we arrive in Spain during peak migration time when thousands of warblers and other songbirds cross the Mediterranean Sea from their overwintering grounds in Africa to their northern breeding grounds in Europe.

Of note, the tour enables trip participants to taste a wide variety of amazing culinary delights Spain has to offer, from paella, croquettas, and Tortilla de patatas to Serrano and Iberico ham. The Spanish food scene features considerable regional diversity, and participants will have opportunities to sample the gastronomic scene of Andalucia (home of gazpacho and Sherry wines), Castile and León (with characteristic dishes such as morcilla and Ribera del Duero red wines), Aragon (famous for its roast lamb cooked with garlic and bacon fat), Extremadura (tortas with a protected designation of origin), Navarra (Rioja wines, and food resembling Basque cuisines), and Catalonia (where paella includes seafood, unlike Valencia paella without seafood).

We begin our tour in Seville; a historic city on southwestern Spain, with three historic buildings inscription into the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, as well as opportunities to enjoy a Flamenco show. From Seville we will visit a variety of wetlands to look for sought-after species like Marbled Teal and White-headed Duck. Our first few days should also give us opportunities to see Laughing Dove, Little Swift, and Red-knobbed Coot—all common species in Africa but highly restricted on the European continent. After this excitement we will spend some time in and around the famous Doñana National Park where Iberian Lynx is the main drawcard, but with Eurasian Spoonbill, Iberian Magpie, and Eurasian Wryneck also possibilities. After some more waterbirding to look for Ferruginous Duck and Red-crested Pochard, we move on towards Extremadura which gives us our first opportunities for Golden Eagle and Spanish Imperial Eagle. The raptor feast continues in Monfragüe National Park where we’ll look for a variety of vultures (including the majestic Bearded Vulture) and eagles before we head to the Santa Marta Steppe to look for grassland specialties such as Great and Little Bustard, and Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. Then it is time to visit the Gredos Mountains as well as Western and Central Perenees to look for the likes of White-backed Woodpecker, Yellow-billed Chough, Alpine Accentor, Ring Ouzel, and Wallcreeper! We will also visit conifer forests near Sahún to look for Boeal Owl, the impressive viewpoint of Miradores de Ordesa to look for White-winged Snowfinch, and Lleida Steppes to give us another chance to see the region’s grassland specialties. We end the tour in Barcelona, where one last view of the Mediterranean Sea will gives us opportunities to see Audouin’s Gull and Balearic Shearwater.

Itinerary

Some of the Birds We Hope to See:

Marbled Teal, Red-crested Pochard, Ferruginous Duck, White-headed Duck, Greater Flamingo, European Turtle-Dove, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Common Cuckoo, Red-necked Nightjar, Alpine Swift, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted and Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Collared Pratincole, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Balearic Shearwater, White Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Bearded Vulture, Cinereous Vulture, Eurasian Griffon, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Eurasian Scops-Owl, Little Owl, Eurasian Hoopoe, Eurasian Bee-eater, White-backed Woodpecker, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Iberian Gray Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Iberian Magpie, Red-billed and Yellow-billed Chough, Calandra Lark, Dupont’s Lark, Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin, Savi’s Warbler, Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Iberian Chiffchaff, Western Orphean Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Western Subalpine Warbler, Dartford’s Warbler, Wallcreeper, White-throated Dipper, Ring Ouzel, Bluethroat, Black Wheatear, Alpine Accentor, Spanish Sparrow, Rock Sparrow, White-winged Snowfinch, and many more.